The Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunions, moon gazing, eating mooncakes, and admiring lanterns, is a tradition spanning thousands of years in Chinese culture. As the bright moon crosses mountains and seas, lanterns find their way to Vietnam. Today, many of these festive customs, observed for millennia in China, have also taken root in Vietnam.
As Mid-Autumn approaches, a variety of decorative lights and handmade lanterns gradually illuminate Ho Chi Minh City's streets, creating a unique festive spectacle. Unlike in China, Mid-Autumn in Vietnam is even more distinctly a children's festival. During this time, children carry lanterns shaped like stars, butterflies, jade rabbits, and carp, venturing out together.
Nguyễn Trọng Bình, a handmade lantern artisan, told a DotDotNews reporter that carp lanterns are a highly representative style in the locality. He explained that, according to local legend, a fish monster would appear and harm people during Mid-Autumn. So, people would light carp lanterns in their homes, and when the fish monster saw the "fish" inside, it would move on to another place. Hence, every Mid-Autumn, households prepare carp lanterns.
Each exquisite lantern embodies generations of inherited craftsmanship. Nguyễn Trọng Bình was introduced to lantern making from a young age, formally entering the trade at 16, and has dedicated over 30 years to mastering the craft. He honed his skills by making simple, small lanterns, gradually mastering the full process of traditional lantern production. Assembling the framework, pasting paper, hand-painting patterns, adding decorative embellishments, and packaging the finished product – each of these numerous sequential steps demands meticulous attention.
Nguyễn Trọng Bình recounted that early lantern makers used mineral pigments and handmade paper, emphasizing dynamic forms, with even the swaying posture of the lanterns' movable parts meticulously designed. Over time, artisans incorporated lacquer and colored cellophane into the craft, leading to a wider variety of lantern styles. At the same time, more and more young people are rediscovering this ancient craft. He spent half a year exploring and researching to replicate and reintroduce a particular traditional old-style lantern fully.
Both Chinese and Vietnamese traditional lanterns boast a wide variety of types. Chinese traditional lanterns feature diverse patterns, covering a vast range of themes, and often incorporate decorative techniques like painting and embroidery. The traditional Vietnamese lantern type Nguyễn Trọng Bình crafts typically uses bamboo splints paired with iron wire for hand-shaping; the framework craftsmanship is particularly intricate, resulting in a distinctly different texture and feel from Chinese lanterns. He mentioned that pomegranate, peach, and Buddha's hand shapes convey wishes for blessings, prosperity, and longevity. At the same time, the crab lantern, with its complex production process, is the most challenging style in this craft.
Traditional lanterns add special joy to the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially for children. However, as times have changed, children's entertainment options have become increasingly diverse, and it seems the appeal of traditional handmade lanterns is not what it once was. Yet, Nguyễn Trọng Bình frankly admits that whenever he takes his lanterns to remote rural areas and sees children light them up, frolicking and wandering with their lanterns, he genuinely feels the inherent value of this art.
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